Thursday, October 16, 2014

references that clearly and definitively mark it as having been conducted

during the week beginning Sunday, January 29, 1989.

Here's one tell-tale quote from the interview
(my annotations are in red):

TREY ANASTASIO: Last week, we played at The

Paradise [TREY IS REFERRING TO A PHISH SHOW THAT TOOK PLACE AT THE PARADISE IN BOSTON, MASS., ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1989]. It was just us, so we

sold it out. First time we played [in Boston], we played at

Molly's [TREY IS REFERRING TO PHISH SHOWS AT MOLLY'SIN BOSTON THAT HAPPENED A OOUPLE MONTHS EARLIER,IN 1988, ON DECEMBER 2, 1988, AND ON NOVEMBER 3, 1988]...and

that went real well, so we played there again. It was too crowded. So then

we tried to get a gig at the Paradise. And we [finally] did that

last week. [PRECEDING SENTENCE MAKES IT OBVIOUS TREY IS REFERRING TO THE BAND'S VERY FIRST SHOW AT THE PARADISE] And that sold out."

Here's another tell-tale quote from the interview:

IORIO: HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS?

ANASTASIO: I'm 24 [TREY WOULDN'T BE 25 UNTIL SEPT. '89]. Mike is

[Trey is prompted by Mike, who is heard in the background] is 23 [MIKE WOULDN'T BE 24 UNTIL JUNE '89]. Um, Page is 25 [PAGE WOULDN'T BE 26 UNTIL MAY 1989]. And Fishman is 23 [THIS IS THE MOST TELL-TALE DATEOF THEM ALL; JON FISHMAN WOULD BE 24 ON FEBRUARY 19, 1989].

* * * *

By the way, a phewaccurate Phish Phacts...

Golly, gee, the bad information on the Internet

about the very early history of Phish is

astonishing, almost breathtaking. I have some general

admiration for Wikipedia, no doubt about it,

but when it comes to Phish history, Wikipedia doesn't

know what the hell it's talking about. At all.

Regarding the history of the band, circa '88 to '90, here are

the actual facts:

Part of Phish's first major album, "Junta," was recorded in 1987,

and the rest was recorded in the winter of '88/'89. The part

that was recorded in 1987 was also self-released as a cassette

demo and sold/distributed to fans, mostly at shows. Those tapes

were not called "Junta." They are identifed by a label on the

cover art that has the copyright symbol and says: "1987 Ernest

Anastasio III." I still have the copy that the band sent to me

in '88, and I've scanned the cover art below.

When "Junta" was released in May 1989, it was self-released.

Phish did not have even an indie record contract at the time.

In fact, the band had not even sent out its demos to anyone

at a record company before Feburary 1989 (and I know this because

Trey told me so in an interview on a tape that I still have).

"Junta" remained a self-released album throughout 1989.

In 1990, a small American indie label, Absolute a Go Go, signed

Phish to a recording contract and released a small number of

copies of "Junta," mostly on cassette, before releasing the

band's subsequent album, "Lawn Boy." But within months, in

1991, Absolute a Go Go went out of business, due to the

bankruptcy of its distributor, Rough Trade.

And Phish was, again, an unsigned band.

Of course, major label Elektra would eventually sign them, in 1992,

and when they did, it released a '92 edition of "Junta."

Another point that should be cleared up: the members of

Phish hadn't even heard of the band Widespread Panic before

I personally told Anastasio in January 1989 about Widespread Panic,

with whom Phish would later collaborate.

As I've noted before, the tape of my January 1989 interview with

Anastasio captures the moment. Here is the verbatim exchange:

PAUL IORIO: ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH A BAND CALLED WIDESPREAD PANIC?

ANASTASIO: No, I'm not.

PAUL IORIO: THEY'RE A BAND FROM ATHENS, GEORGIA, THAT HAS A
FOLLOWING SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING. THEY REALLY
GO VERY FAR INTO LONG-FORM JAMS AND ATTRACT A LOT OF DEADHEADS.

Pretty open and shut! There's nothing ambiguous

about that interchange.

But some misinformed folks don't quite get it and say

stuff like, "Wow, man, [Phish keyboardist] Page McConnell

played on Widespread Panic's debut album 'Space Wrangler,'

and that was released in '88."

Wrong. Here are the facts:

McConnell played on the 1992 edition of "Space Wrangler,"

not on the 1988 "Space Wrangler" that was originally released

on Volcano. And he performed only on bonus tracks that were

recorded in 1990 and subsequently added to the original '88

album for the '92 release.

I know all this because I interviewed Gordon and Anastasio

during this period and still have my taped interviews and notes

from the late 1980s. And my information comes

from no less than Anastasio himself, speaking to me in

January 1989. Second, I've also minutely researched early

Phish history for stories I've written (most notably, for

Miami New Times in '03).

Those who have it wrong should correct the record.

Cover art of Phish's 1987 cassette tape demo
(four songs on this tape would later be included
on 1989's self-released "Junta").[Above, cover art from a tape
the band sent to me in early '88.]

-------------------------------

How I Managed to Be the First Journalist Anywhere to Interview Trey Anastasio on Tape

Photo of Phish that the band sent to me in early 1988.

It's safe to say, I think, that the Phish I remember is not the

Phish almost everyone else knows. That's partly because -- as I
mentioned above -- I did the first taped Trey interview

Above, my description of Phish for the East Coast Rocker
newspaper in 1989, the first mention of the band in print outside
of Burlington. (It's a brief item, yes. But nobody else went eventhat far in the press at the time. Remember, I was just
a writer/reporter; I didn't own the publications for which I wrote.
Back then, I simply couldn't get an editor to greenlight a story on an
unsigned band whose self-released music was generating no radio ariplay
whatsoever.)